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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183031">With you and fish</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kozrae/pseuds/kozrae'>kozrae</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Boys will be stupid, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Family Feels, Interspecies Awkwardness, Interspecies Relationship(s), M/M, Mer!Jaskier, Other, Plenty of biology references, Poor Life Choices, Rescue Missions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:14:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,523</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183031</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kozrae/pseuds/kozrae</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Emergency Jars ran empty (Thanks Lambert!) Eskel gets a strange, vague, potentially-a-kidnapping-front offer for a job. This will either go really well or really... not. But hey, at least he's getting to finally use that expensive piece of paper the university gave him! Because he'll be working with fish... right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Background Aiden/Lambert, Eskel/Jaskier | Dandelion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Paracheirodon innesi</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My first multichapter fic! whew!! this was born because of my love for eskel, The Boys, jaskier and biology.</p><p>There's a mention/case of leukemia (theres no lasting damage and everything's alright after it happens), if you want to skip it it starts in "Then Geralt’s hair turned white" and ends on "“You look fucking ugly”, making Geralt almost faint with laughter.",  id recommend reading it because it gives more depth to Eskel, but if not its alright!</p><p>Thanks to <a href="https://bitcher-of-blaviken.tumblr.com/">Cookie</a>, <a href="https://cloudspeck.tumblr.com/">Moondrunk</a>, <a href="https://dragonjaskier.tumblr.com">dragonjaskier</a> and my lovely lovely beta <a href="https://locktea.tumblr.com/">Locktea</a> for their guidance in the story &amp; for their willingness to talk abt it!!!</p><p>Hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Eskel’s new life began at five years old when his mother brought him to a country, promising him candies, books, and to see his dad. When they landed, they walked hand in hand towards the baggage claim, where she picked up his suitcase, and they set off toward the exit. She gripped his little hand tight, handed over his things to a strange man with white hair, and left him behind, ignoring his cries and questions. The stranger prevented him from running after her, holding him close and speaking reassurances in a language he didn’t understand.</p><p>The only thing Eskel remembered about her now were the songs she sang while they went to milk the cows on their little farm. He could only bring himself to listen to them once he was older and resentment wasn’t burning him alive. He kept on speaking spanish with kids his age at school with Vesemir’s encouragement, and thus now he spoke with a little accent, some vowels a little too rounded and some consonants a little too strong.</p><p>He never could understand the idea of leaving your kid, your flesh and blood, in the care of a man they’d never known, in a country where they didn’t speak the language. He was thankful Vesemir was patient and never let him down, even through the tears and the anger. Eskel had been about six when Vesemir had given him the option between keeping his legal name or allowing himself to be someone different.</p><p>And thus, Ezequiel Retamal Díaz died, and Ezequiel Wolfe was born.</p><p>Shortly after him came Geralt, also around five and scared to death. They found a sense of companionship in their abandonment and in being little kids with a passion for large, complicated books. Geralt was a taciturn kid, shy and wary of physical contact. He never complained, keeping quiet even if it hurt him. Eskel was easier with his emotions, eager to offer a hug or a kind word whenever it was wanted.</p><p>The years together were kind to them, finding a steady rhythm in each other and in Vesemir. Both of them looked like fraternal twins, same height, same eye and hair colour, same constitution, and even similar skin colour (though while he tanned in the sun, Geralt just turned red). Whenever they told anyone that both of them were adopted, people didn’t believe them, so they just said that they were brothers.</p><p>Seven year old Lambert arrived at their little home when Eskel and Geralt were eleven and ten respectively, screaming his face off in anger. He destroyed every toy he was given, refused to eat his food, had night terrors, and was prone to fights in school. The entire Lambert situation was the first time he saw Vesemir’s seemingly endless patience waver. Eskel had issues connecting with Lambert, understanding his situation, but incapable of handling his anger. Geralt looked at him with pursed lips, a considering look on his little face.</p><p>Child psychologists didn’t work on him and neither did art therapy or stern talks. Nothing worked until Geralt pulled him aside, bringing him to a corner in their room and speaking to him in soft tones, listening intently to Lambert’s hushed fury, nodding every so often. Eskel never knew what they talked about, but after, Lambert began to calm down. Not fully, but it seemed like a weight had been taken off him. Also, Taekwondo classes were a wonder as a form of releasing his anger. Later on Lambert wanted to get into MMA, but Vesemit had taken a look at a video with people kicking each other’s faces in a ring and forbade it.</p><p>He could never forget the first time Lambert came to him in search of physical comfort. His new siblings hadn’t been capable of saying Ezequiel quite right, so he ended up as Eskel to his family ad eternum. Little Lambert had taken hold of one of his sweater’s sleeves, asking for his attention. Once he had gotten it, he had given him a tight squeeze around his middle and ran away red-faced. After that, the puppy piles had started, right in front of the hearth. All of them were starved for physical comfort, too scared to ask for it outright and saw in the piles an easy way of quenching that hunger. One boy laid in front of the fire and the rest cuddled up to him, most of the time pretending the others weren’t there, like a group of cats.</p><p>Vesemir had never been one for physical affection, concerning himself instead with their physical wellbeing, feeding them healthy food, taking them to the doctor whenever they needed, letting them jump around the house whenever it was too cold to play outside, always being willing to listen to their troubles, giving them a pat on the back in his form of comfort.</p><p>Then Geralt’s hair turned white when he was 15, right after treatment for a kind of leukemia he didn’t want to think about. At the beginning, the only signs of an illness were the colds, to which Vesemir had teased him that he wanted to stay home instead of having classes with their mean English teacher. Then the cold sweats and the nosebleeds started and Vesemir stopped teasing.</p><p>After the diagnosis Eskel had held Lambert tight on the nights Geralt wasn’t home, pretending he didn’t listen to the sobs that wracked his little body, he was so young, so tiny and still filled with so much grief and anger. </p><p>The only thing Eskel could do was hold him close and hold his hand tight whenever they left Geralt’s hospital room.</p><p>Eskel had been scared too, terrified even, but he couldn’t show it for his family’s sake. He couldn’t make Vesemir hold both his grief and his sons’, so he took care of Lambert, held Vesemir whenever it seemed like sorrow would topple him over and sat next to Geralt’s hospital bed talking to him until a nurse would kick him out. He needed to be strong for their family, and so he was. He needed to be brave for them.</p><p>The three of them, plus Vesemir, had found themselves a little family of their own, one that didn’t abandon each other, one that was kind and good. Eskel could be brave for them, it was the least he could do.</p><p>One of the happiest days of his life was when Vesemir told them that Geralt could come home and that he had gotten better. It was also the first time he allowed himself to cry over the course of Geralt’s illness, and it was one of the first times he had seen Vesemir truly smile, holding his boys in his arms with tears in his eyes. Little Lambert turned to him, still in Vesemir’s arms, and just curled himself around Eskel - who hadn’t stopped crying - and kept himself there long after Vesemir had left them alone.</p><p>Geralt had returned home with long white hair and brown roots, a terribly thin frame, thin, paler skin -he’d never be confused as Eskel’s biological brother anymore- and sunken eyes, holding Vesemir’s arm so he wouldn’t fall. The first thing Lambert had said, pretending he wasn’t about to cry, was “You look fucking ugly”, making Geralt almost faint with laughter.</p><p>So there they were, 18 years since they had become a family and the boys were still thick as thieves. Only more stupid.</p><p>Lambert came running into the living room, eyes blazing in fury. Geralt laid on the floor, was playing with a butterfly knife, doing complicated moves with it, ignoring him. Eskel hoped he wouldn’t cut off one of his fingers; they didn’t have the money to go to the hospital.</p><p>“Where the fuck is my hairbrush?! Who took it, you stupid pieces of shit?!” Lambert screamed.</p><p>Oh little Lambert, what happened to you?</p><p>“Didn’t you leave it in the shower, you dumb bitch?” Geralt asked, never taking his eyes off his knife.</p><p>“Huh! Like you have any right to call anyone a bitch, you-”</p><p>They tested him. He loved them more than he could express, but they tested him.</p><p>Eskel sighed a deep breath as he watched Lambert advance menacingly towards Geralt. When Lambert was close enough to assure violence, Geralt threw his knife away. Lambert jumped on Geralt and now they were wrestling on the floor. Watching WWF as kids did them more harm than good, he thought while mindlessly caressing his crooked nose.</p><p>Eskel remained seated on the sofa, laptop resting on his lap while looking over possible job opportunities to support the stupid men calling themselves his brothers.</p><p>Recently, both the “Get Geralt Some Therapy” and the “Get Lambert To The Hospital” jar had been emptied (Geralt had gotten therapy and worked on his self-steem and Lambert had gone to the hospital with a stab wound. The two events were, thankfully, unrelated). In the case of Lambert’s stabbing adventure, his jar, despite being a little over half full, hadn’t been enough to stitch him back together, so he had to resort to sadly emptying his own “Get Eskel A Goat” jar. And thus, he now needed a better paying job (a steady job) to support his brothers’ habits of staying alive (and his dream of having a goat farm to make goat cheese).</p><p>The good thing about the stabbing incident (Named “The Stabbening”, by Lambert. Geralt referred to it as “The confirmation of Lambert’s stupidity”, and Eskel tried his best to not think about the whole thing), is that Lambert got himself a boyfriend. In the man who stabbed him.</p><p>Lambert and Aiden’s love story went - according to Aiden - like this.</p><p>Aiden was walking home after a good night at the pub, celebrating getting fired from his job as an architect (a field which was filled with right bastards, supposedly), when he saw a large, ripped (Lambert’s addition) man with red hair. Aiden, in his drunken state, thought that Lambert walked over to him in a threatening manner (While Lambert only meant to ask him for a light, allegedly), quickly took a dagger from the inside of his jacket (“One never knows! Better safe than sorry.”) and told the stranger calmly (“He was shaking like a damn leaf” laughed Lambert, before being playfully shoved by Aiden) that he had a weapon and knew how to use it.</p><p>Lambert’s response to this was “What are you gonna do, stab me?” He got stabbed.</p><p>After they cleared things up, Aiden got Lambert to the hospital (“I know you’re fucking bleeding, stop screaming and get in the fucking Uber”), lied to the staff (“Please help my fiancé, a bandit stabbed him and ran into the night!”), called Eskel and Geralt on Lambert’s phone (“Hey so, uh, your brother got stabbed, but he’s alright! Bring money, please”), apologized (“How was I meant to know he wasn’t going to kill me? He sure looked like he was thinking about it!”), ran away, leaving his number in Lambert’s phone and threw the dagger in the largest trash dumpster he could find while drunk. They’d been best friends ever since. Aiden asked Lambert to date after a supposedly very romantic archery lesson.</p><p>Romantic. Maybe he was a little bit jealous.</p><p>He looked at his brothers getting dangerously close to the kitchen, where sharp things rested.</p><p>He had no idea how these people were alive. He loved them terribly.</p><p>“Surrender, bitch!” demanded Lambert, attempting - and failing - to put Geralt in a headlock.</p><p>Eskel had won their home in a drug-induced haze in a casino. Of which he only remembered was the smell of salt, the feeling of sand in his toes and the shock of cold water against him. He woke up half naked in a dilapidated house on the coast with three rooms, all of them filled with varying degrees of illegal materials, with the place's papers taped to his face. He had no issue with moving his things from the house he shared with a couple of graduate students, who could never quite look him in the eyes; frightened both of the scars on his face, his strong frame, and of his stony silence. He’d lived in the little place on the coast ever since and was quite happy in it.</p><p>Eskel invited Lambert to live with him after he’d gotten out of jail for punching a police officer (who deserved it, allegedly), his cooking abilities were greatly appreciated and his brash attitude was fun, though he could get a little bit cruel sometimes. But Eskel had a lifetime of dealing with his little baby brother and wasn’t afraid to call him out on his shit. They had fun, it was almost like old times, except without Vesemir, Geralt, and with more cock jokes. </p><p>Geralt then turned to them after his on-and-off relationship with a lady from work turned off permanently, and she’d kicked him out. He had called Eskel with fear in his voice, explaining his situation and asking if there was a place in his home for him, as if Eskel would ever think of turning his back on his brother whenever he may need it. </p><p>It was pleasant to be around family and both of his brothers helped redecorate and renovate the house, throwing out the trash, and going to IKEA for hours at a time, caught in a frenzy of meatballs and home decor. </p><p>He knew both of them had kept some of the dangerous things found in the house, but couldn’t blame them nor call them out, since he had kept a switchblade in case of emergencies.</p><p>They all pitched in with money to pay utilities. Geralt’s money came from his office job on the other side of the city, to which he drove in an amusingly small little car, and from teaching Judo in a little studio. Lambert earned his share from… whatever Lambert did nowadays, and Eskel from his little art commissions. He mostly did animals but also occasionally took a dip into little portraits, and while he enjoyed making art greatly, the money wasn’t enough.</p><p>He’d been waiting to hear back from the truly terrible amount of emails he’d sent to so many places he didn’t remember which one was which. Despite all of them contributing, money was a little scarce sometimes. Hence, the Emergency Jars had been created, in case of emergencies (Of which there were more often than not.)</p><p>So there they were. Three brothers living in a small house on the coast, threatening each other’s lives on the daily and with more analogies about sucking cock than he’d like to admit (he’d also been guilty of contributing to this, to his eternal shame).</p><p>He refreshed his email, slightly more desperate. Hopefully his biology degree would finally get to be useful and shine in the light of day.</p><p>And there it was, a chance for a better life for his family.</p><p>From a company called Biovus. A quick google search told him nothing, maybe they were a fairly new company. Or maybe they were doing some fucked up shit and needed to keep quiet about it. Always going for the worst case scenario huh, Eskel?</p><p>He didn’t remember contacting them, but at this point, he didn’t care.</p><p>The email read:</p><p>“Good day, Mister Wolfe!</p><p>We saw your application and we were pleasantly impressed.</p><p>We’d love to have you for an interview at our location in Prior’s Court #1225, this Monday at 11 AM sharp.</p><p>We’d be excited for you to be on our team!”</p><p>It was about an hour away from the house, near the harbour on the other side of the city where shipping containers were kept and some were turned into small offices. Lambert joked that he’d walk up to it, get killed, and then he and Geralt would celebrate his disappearance.</p><p>“Listen, I’m just saying that a lot of people die in those things,” he said nonchalantly, like Eskel’s death would be a minor hitch in his step. “We need to figure out what happens to us when you get killed by the guy in charge.”</p><p>“Lambert.” Geralt said with distaste, making him worthy of his status as Eskel’s favourite. “He might get killed by a woman, don’t be sexist.”</p><p>Ah, fuck them both.</p><p>“Then, and listen, this is important,” the redhead made a gesture which might have been calming to a horse, “when you die, Geralt and I,” he pointed at himself and Geralt, “will fight for the house keys!”</p><p>“Like a battle royale,” Geralt nodded.</p><p>Eskel honestly couldn’t tell if they were messing with him or not.  He found himself in the moral situation to remind them who's house this was. He was forced to wrestle them both to remind them of his position as the owner of the house.</p><p>He hoped he wasn’t kidnapped.<br/>
-----------------------------</p><p>The interview was in a shipping container, but he wasn’t being kidnapped. Yet.</p><p>It wasn’t a large container. More on the smaller side, with a desk, a very artistic photo of a very naked lady, and a couple of plants (one large one with different kinds of succulents, a very pretty giant echeveria, bamboo for whatever reason, and three more he couldn’t identify at a simple glance) A handsome man sat behind the desk, his hands resting over a couple of papers facing a chair in front of the desk.</p><p>Eskel saw him recoil slightly at the sight of his scars, before carefully controlling his expression.</p><p>“Ezequiel Wolfe! What a pleasure to see you,” Handsome Man smiled, offering his hand, his grip was a little weak and his hands were cold. “Let’s talk business.”<br/>
-------------------------------------------<br/>
Eskel, unexpectedly, got the job. It seemed his knowledge of animal behaviour wasn’t for nothing. Take that, high school counsellor!</p><p>He stood outside the remarkably shady place, where he’d mostly been asked about his ability to handle wild animals, his knowledge on fish, his credentials, and if he’d be alright with signing an NDA by the Handsome Man (who it turned out was named Istredd). He hadn’t been told what he’d work on exactly, but considering the NDA requirement and the overall vagueness of the entire operation, he was convinced it was one of two things. It was either legitimate work with enough potential and possible influence that it had to be kept under wraps, (but then, why hire a random man with a Master in entomology?), or it was something shady and possibly illegal. He was slightly regretting his eagerness to jump into a job blind just because it was well paid without considering possible consequences.</p><p>Oh well.</p><p>His first day was tomorrow, they’d apparently been desperate for new hands. He didn’t blame them; he was desperate as well.</p><p>After a good afternoon with the brothers celebrating their oldest getting a good, high paying job, Eskel got up in the morning, trashed but excited. He wore tight shorts under his jeans, a simple shirt with his university’s logo (A stylised tiger winking with “Class of 2010” written under it), and a pair of running shoes. He put his red water boots, a spare shirt, a towel, Lambert’s goggles from when he tried - and failed - to learn how to swim, and a salmon sandwich in his bag. Working with fish was always a mess, but he was ready. He left the house to Lambert’s cheering and Geralt’s quiet clapping, both of them wishing him luck.</p><p>He loved them.</p><p>Once the door was closed, he heard Lambert yell, “Try not to suck too much cock today, bitch!”</p><p>Maybe he loved Geralt a little more.</p><p>Eskel walked ten minutes to the bus stop and started thinking.</p><p>Who knew what he was going to deal with? Perhaps, from the vague questions, he’d be part of some kind of illegal fish trade? He got on the bus, paid the fare, sat down, and kept thinking. If it was, he had the government environmental institute on speed dial, ready to report it. Damn the money, he couldn’t live with a clean conscience if native fish got harmed on his watch. He scratched the scar on his face at the thought of a native animal’s distress.</p><p>Eskel, the native fish defender.</p><p>“I’d give my life for you, Trichomycterus areolatus.” He whispered on the bus, a little over halfway to his destination. The lady sitting next to him gave him a nasty look.</p><p>Perhaps it would be some kind of fish breeding project to observe patterns and help with conservation? He didn’t remember much about working with R, but he was willing to dust off his old books and manuals and study like he didn’t in undergrad. God, he hoped it was a conservation job.</p><p>He smiled at the thought of working with fish. He loved their patterns, their colours, and their behaviours. Funky little fellas. Fuck salmon, though. He didn’t want shit to do with salmon. Ugly bastards. He’d work with them for the pay, but he wouldn’t enjoy it. He’d look at the salmon with hatred, as they deserved.</p><p>“Sah-mon, sah-mon, sah-mon,” he said under his breath, the lady sitting next to him grabbed her purse and moved somewhere else.</p><p>Despite his undergrad thesis being on five species from the same genre of Saturniidae, their changing patterns depending on the area they were found, and his thesis for his master’s on the venation patterns and phylogeography of <em>Polythysana apollina<em> he still had respect for vertebrates. Not much, but still.</em></em></p><p>
  <em>
    <em>He remembered absolutely nothing about his vertebrate classes, all he knew was that reptiles were cool and that mammals sucked ass. Except for marine mammals, they had a pass because they were cute, but they were on thin fucking ice. </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Eskel remembered crying the first time he saw a dugong in real life, and the second and third time also. </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Charming bastards with their stupid little faces and kind eyes, who did they think they were? All they did was munch seagrass, float and grow moss on their backs. Oh God, he was getting emotional. He fanned his face with his hand.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>He barely noticed his stop while on his animal fueled frenzy, damn vertebrates. His new workplace was in the same container his interview had taken place, which was potentially concerning, but it was too late to back out. He had a family to feed and fishes to care for.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Eskel knocked on the door and let himself inside.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>And there it was, the reason he was meant to sign an NDA.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>He hadn’t actually signed it. Istredd got distracted telling Eskel about himself and his career as a businessman, which Eskel tuned out, smiled, and nodded as an answer and forgot about it. Eskel wasn’t complaining, he wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut about this, not even on the threat of murder or financial ruin.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>At the container’s entrance laid the same desk and naked lady painting he’d seen in his interview, but the plants were missing, for whatever reason.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>At the container’s end, however, rested a large tank of water with a small staircase on the side leading to the top lip of the tank. It was filled with the most fantastic creature Eskel had ever seen in his entire life.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>The creature, startled by the sudden sound of the door opening, turned to look at him.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Eskel was completely awed both by its beauty and by its existence. It looked like a regular human male - albeit, a very handsome one - with gills on the side of its neck and on its ribs, dark blue sclera, brown hair, light brown skin, plenty of scars on its torso, and wonder of all wonders, it had a tail.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>A fucking tail.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Eskel found himself stuck, one foot inside the container and unable to move the rest of the way in. He stared wide-eyed in shock.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>The creature hissed at him, baring its sharp teeth. Were they in multiple rows, like a shark’s? What did its skeleton look like? What was this individual’s role in its community? Did its species even live in communities? Were they a solitary species? How-</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“Ezequiel!” said Istredd, failing to notice Eskel’s wide-eyed look. He clapped his shoulder and offered his hand in a handshake. </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Eskel turned sharply at the voice. Dumbfounded, he took the hand and gave it a limp shake. If Vesemir could see the strength in his handshake right now he’d be faced with The Look Of Disappointment.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>He was led inside the container by their joined hands.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“That’s a,” he mumbled “uh, that’s-” he pointed at the tank inhabited by Humanoid Creature.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“A merman!” the dark-skinned man clapped in joy.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“Oh, I think I might-” He moved to the nearest corner of the desk where he could lean on and still look at the creature, “Oh, I’m-” he held his bag close to his chest. This was way beyond what the local government environmental institute could handle.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>This was way beyond what Eskel could handle. He didn’t think his little red rubber boots could handle this.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“Should I give you a minute?” Istredd said, looking amused. Like he hadn’t destroyed an important part of Eskel’s knowledge of reality. Oh god, what would his professors say if they saw this? He knew a couple of them would just start chopping it up and exhibit the remaining skeleton in their offices. Oh, its skeleton. What secrets did it hide? Eskel gave the weakest chuckle a human could make, thinking about the creature’s unholy mix of fish and human. Half tuna, half man.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>It was objectively, a beautiful individual. Did the members of its species look like it? Was it particular in its beauty and did it make him desirable to mate with? </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Were there even other members in its species? Eskel found himself feeling sad. The last bastion of a lost species in greedy human hands. A story repeated time and time again. Poor thing.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>His pity towards it didn’t stop him from imagining what it would look like under the scalpel. Scientific curiosity, no evil feelings, promise. He’d never do it. But he was a little bit curious.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>It looked at Eskel, curled around its tail. Not that it could help much, being in a tank under the watchful eyes of four people. Just then he noticed the rest of the ‘team’ he was now a part of. There was Istredd, of course, another handsome man (were they so handsome to counter their likely evil deeds?), and a mediocre looking man. And Eskel, of course, the ugly bastard.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“A real beauty, isn’t it?” Istredd sighed. “Caught it by accident while on a fishing trip, little thing was caught in the net. Looked all happy when we got it on board,” he chuckled.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“And uh,” he stammered. “I’m realizing now why the job description was so nebulous, but um,” Eskel didn’t take his eyes off it. “What am I… meant to do?”</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“We thought it’d be a good idea to have someone study his behaviour and investigate all its… structures,” he gestured at the creature, ”then we’ll send his preserved remains to a benefactor’s private collection,” the dark-skinned man kept on talking as if Eskel wasn’t having a little panic attack. “This is pure science, this search of the unknown, and this will be a great start to our companies’ endeavours,” he smiled.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Eskel noticed that their company consisted of four people (including Eskel), a container, a tank, a biologist with a degree in moths, and a mortician’s table.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Oh no, they really planned to tear him apart. Where did Eskel, the native fish defender, go? He went to shit along with his plans of a peaceful evening taking care of little catfish.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>This went against most morals Eskel still had, which were a reasonable amount, but not as many as one would expect. Eskel would need a plan.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“Would you mind me studying the specimen right now?” he asked, scratching his scar, almost completely sure he had opened the wound with his blunt nails.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“Oh, of course! A scientist needs time with his work,” Istredd nodded, clapping his shoulder again and leaving the container along with the rest of the team. Leaving Eskel alone with the creature… He really needed to give it a name.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Eskel dragged himself from the desk with shaky legs, like a little new-born fawn about to be thrown to the wolves. He walked towards the tank, keeping his hands visible and hunching on himself, making himself as little a threat as possible. “Not going to harm you, bud. I promise,” he whispered, now slowly walking up the stairs, the creature huddled in the bottom of its tank, looking at him with wide eyes, bared fangs and flared pectoral fins. Were they even proper pectoral fins? He didn’t think so but it wasn’t time to think about fish anatomy. Yet.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Oh no, it must be so stressed.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>He sat on the last step for a couple of seconds, regaining his breath before he remembered his salmon sandwich “Sah-mon, sah-mon, sah-mon.” he muttered to himself, reaching inside his bag with shaking hands. He grabbed the sandwich and held it over the tank, trying to entice the creature into stretching and letting Eskel look it over. Maybe even earn its trust with food. God knows that had worked with Lambert.<br/>
“Alright hon, I’ve got you some food,” he said quietly, shaking his sandwich. “Hopefully you can digest bread,” he muttered to himself. </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>The creature sprang up to grab Eskel’s sandwich, splashing him from head to toe once it surfaced from the water, making him startle. Hopefully he wouldn’t lose his fingers because he’d been careless with a fish person, only because it looked stressed and that made him sad (Did it count as a person? Did it have rights? Should he refer to it as them? Did it have a gender identity?!) It ate the sandwich quickly, looking at him with distrust, like he’d take its food at any second. Poor thing, he’d have a word with whoever had been taking care of it. </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>From what little he could see, the colour of his scales weren’t uniform, he had little white spots among the blue expanse of its tail. Eskel frowned. On the bottom of the tank laid the remains of a half eaten, rotting lettuce, the water didn’t look very clean. He measured about two meters and 50 centimetres, maybe even more with its tail completely erect. And now that he looked carefully, the end of its fins looked a little bit frayed, maybe, but it could also be his eye looking at everything with suspicion.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Despite looking distrustful, the creature kept its head over the surface, the gills on each side of its neck covered by water. Eskel offered a shaky smile, intimidated. “Do uh, do you have a name, hon?” he asked, unable to stop himself from asking, still confused by its humanoid nature. He knew how small the possibility was that it spoke a human language, but it’s the same question he’d ask a goat in the middle of a prairie. Basic human politeness.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>How did it communicate with its mates? Maybe they had a call similar to whales. Oh shit, was it a mammal? It sure seemed so, it had what seemed to be nipples. Was it carnivorous? He wondered-</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>“What’s it to you?” It sneered.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>And Eskel just about died right there and then.</em>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Epalzeorhynchos frenatum</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always, thank u for my sweet beta locktea &lt;3 &lt;3 sorry for the long wait! school &amp; life got in the way but hopefully now updates will be quicker! hope u enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Silence</p>
<p>They both took a second to examine each other, he couldn’t imagine the view he must make. All wet and wearing his shitty clothes, his ugly, scarred face looking at him in awe, his mouth open in an eternal sneer, making him seem aggressive and grotesque. The merman kept a sneer on his face, showing off two sharp rows of teeth.</p>
<p>Eskel however, had the view of a lifetime, both as a scientist and as a man. The humanoid had warm brown skin, dark hair, a black sclera (and wasn’t that just right out of his dreams nightmares), a slightly crooked nose and the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. From his vantage point he could see a little of his large, thickly muscled tail, muscled like his torso, which had a healthy layer of fat buffeting it from the cold harsh winters, keeping him warm, surely. He mustn’t have been caught too long ago, if he was still seemingly in good health.</p>
<p>Huh.</p>
<p>Ezequiel forgot to breathe for a second. What did this mean? Had he had an aneurysm, died, and gone to fantasy heaven, where mermen existed and selkies were abundant? The fact that this stunning creature could talk made him sweat, he could answer things no ecologist has ever dreamed of, he could speak about his culture, his experiences with human beings (for he clearly understood at least a basic level of English, he HAD to have had human contact… or maybe he had learned from another creature). Was it polite to ask a magical creature details about their culture? Because if there was one thing Eskel was, it was polite. Most of the time.</p>
<p>Oh, the possibilities were as endless as the sea “What Is It To You” came from.</p>
<p>Was it polite to ask a magical creature details about their culture? Because if there was one thing Eskel was, it was polite. Most of the time.</p>
<p>The sea.</p>
<p>This creature.</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>Let’s not get too carried away, Ezequiel.</p>
<p>He needs to show himself to be harmless, that he can be trusted.</p>
<p>“Look,” he held his hands spread and at eye level, “I’m not a threat, I know it doesn’t mean much but I promise I don’t agree with what has been done to you.” Eskel said seriously.</p>
<p>“Well that’s good and all, but it doesn’t mean anything if you’re part of the problem!” He countered.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what to do to help, I need this job to help feed my family!”</p>
<p>“My family is outside and I’m stuck here! Alone!”</p>
<p>“I understand,” he took a deep breath, “I understand.”</p>
<p>“Nobody wins here, least of all me. I’m just going to be cut open,” he made a crude chopping motion, “my flesh stripped open, and my bones exposed in a rich man’s bathroom!”</p>
<p>“Bathroom?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know what the fuck you call your things!” He said loudly before sighing, “Would you understand it if I told you I want to go to my, uh, how do you call it? My… my piece?”</p>
<p>“Your piece?”</p>
<p>“Where, ah, my,” Jaskier frowned, “My resting place is? You know?”</p>
<p>“Ah, your room!” Eskel nodded, “Got it.”</p>
<p>“But you got it before I explained?” he asked.</p>
<p>“Kind of.” Eskel shrugged</p>
<p>“Well, I can ‘kind of’ understand the places at your home. Sorry I didn’t have a formal english education.” The merman rolled his eyes.</p>
<p>“Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like an asshole, I promise.”</p>
<p>The merman sighed. “It’s alright I guess, at least you’ve tried to speak to me like I’m a thinking creature and not just a pretty face with a pretty, um, pretty ah, bottom half. Of which I have both of course, but I’m more than that.”</p>
<p>“Of course you are. You’re a, uh, person, with valid thoughts and emotions.”</p>
<p>“Alright, you’re the better human so far.” The merman nodded.</p>
<p>“I don’t think that’s much praise but that’s fair.” Eskel shrugged.</p>
<p>“Meh, you’re still in deep water, but you’re alright maybe.”</p>
<p>They lapsed into a comfortable silence, both of them checking each other out.</p>
<p>“Could you…?”</p>
<p>“Could I?” He pouted, “What do you want to ask of me? Haven’t your people-,” he gestured at Eskel, “caused me enough harm?” He whined. He couldn’t pronounce his ‘s’ very well, his tongue clearly not made for it, he wasn’t a native english speaker then, much like himself. “Look at my tail!” He raised as much as his tail as possible, pointing at his veil and his tail fins. “Look what they’ve done to my beautiful tail!” He wailed.</p>
<p>Eskel took a good look at what he was shown and frowned. As he’d seen from afar, his tail was indeed in a bad state, sickly looking little white spots near his hips, unlike the black well-defined ones covering the creature’s warm brown human skin, reminding him of a spotted seal. The thin, opalescent skin of his veil seemed to be torn and there were places where his tail seemed washed out.</p>
<p>Eskel frowned and looked closer, “This shit isn’t fucking right,” he muttered.</p>
<p>The creature relaxed his tail, now making it undulate to keep his torso above water, “I knew you were a man of culture when I saw you, handsome man!” He exclaimed. “Wait, do you mean that what happened to me isn’t right or that my tail isn’t right? Because you’d be right on both, but I’d feel very offended if you called my stunning tail ugly.”</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t dare,” Eskel said earnestly.</p>
<p>“Thank you, kind sir.” The fish man nodded his head, appreciatively.</p>
<p>“But I understand what you mean.” He said, placatingly, “What I meant to say was,” he took a breath, “What happened to you?”</p>
<p>“What do you think happened to me?” He asked, before immediately answering himself, “Oh, a man’s beauty caught me in a trap! And then he- he just left me stuck in this fucking-,” he floundered for a second, “What the fuck even is this damned thing?” He gestured at his living space.</p>
<p>“A water tank.”</p>
<p>“A water tank!” He repeated. “Oh, by the Goddess, where are my manners? My pod would have an aneurysm were they to listen to me speak to someone without knowing their name. Thank you again, mister…?”</p>
<p>“You haven’t given me your name, yet expect me to give you mine? That’s not very nice.”</p>
<p>The creature scoffed, “Well if I must introduce myself, let it not be said I’m anything but a gentleman! I’m named Jaskier.” He bowed his upper half slightly.</p>
<p>“I’m Ezequiel.”</p>
<p>Jaskier looked confused for a second, “I must confess I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing one of yours named like that before, kind uh Etzeh-kuh… kuh…”</p>
<p>“Eskel”, he said, understanding. It wasn’t the first time someone couldn’t pronounce his name quite right; at this point it didn’t even faze him. He’d rather have people call  him Eskel so they could all save the embarrassment.</p>
<p>“Eskel then! Lovely name for a lovely man.”</p>
<p>“Must’ve not seen many men then,” he scoffed.</p>
<p>“You’d be surprised, kind sir,” Jaskier winked.</p>
<p>Eskel smiled, “Show yourself often, then? If you know many men?” He said instinctively then immediately cringed, he’d been spending too much time with his brothers.</p>
<p>Jaskier gasped, “You make me sound as if I were some kind of harlot!”</p>
<p>“Uh...” Oh, he couldn’t just speak like a regular human being. He didn’t want to offend this man (man?) who walked (swam?) right out of his wildest, marine mammal related dreams.</p>
<p>“I mean,” Jaskier shrugged, “I kind of am, so don’t worry.”</p>
<p>… Should he ask what Jaskier meant with that? How- Wha- Hm. Best not to. Eskel himself wouldn’t feel comfortable if a… strange creature asked him about his sex life. Yet Jaskier had offered that detail by himself, on Eskel’s accidental behest... but still.</p>
<p>Best not to. Curiosity burned in him… but best not to.</p>
<p>“Hm,” he was starting to sound like Geralt, damn it.</p>
<p>They remained in silence for another moment.</p>
<p>“Can I, uh, touch your tail?” Eskel asked, his curiosity and feeling of protectiveness over an innocent creature had won over his common sense. His tail needed to be looked at, from what little could be seen from his limited point of view.</p>
<p>“My tail?”</p>
<p>“Your, uh, bottom half,” he explained.</p>
<p>“My tail?!” He gasped, “How dare you, mister Eskel! And I thought that you were a gentleman!”</p>
<p>“Wait, I-” Eskel started, getting interrupted by Jaskier right away.</p>
<p>“I’m messing with you, mister.” He chuckled, “come inside my humble… tank, I guess?”</p>
<p>“Can I get a promise you won’t drown me?”</p>
<p>“I could’ve done that the moment you sat there, so don’t worry about it.”</p>
<p>Eskel took a deep breath.</p>
<p>Oh shit.</p>
<p>That sure did put things into perspective.</p>
<p>“How did they manage to even catch you?” Eskel whispered</p>
<p>Jaskier sneered, “Had just gotten recently wounded, pretty man. Big salmon net.”</p>
<p>Eskel nodded, “Fuck salmon.”</p>
<p>“Fuck salmon!” said Jaskier, excitedly.</p>
<p>Finally, a man after his own heart.</p>
<p>Now that he actually noticed, Jaskier’s visible body was covered in scars both small and large. One of the large ones, looking fairly new on the side of his stomach, looked like the scarring he’d seen left behind by a boat propeller (he must’ve thicker skin than a regular human); he wondered how he survived. He scratched his own scars, remembering the feeling of glass scraping the skin of his face, leaving him uglier and with slight nerve damage.</p>
<p>They kind of matched.</p>
<p>Though Jaskier was far prettier than he’d ever been, scarless or not.</p>
<p>“Can you, uh, give me a second? I need to change my clothes,” he gestured at his bag.</p>
<p>“A second to what? Get a harpoon from your little bag so you can strike me and eat my flesh?”</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t do anything to you, you’re too pretty.”</p>
<p>“You’ll make me flush, mister Eskel.”</p>
<p>“Sometimes I can communicate well, only sometimes. You’re very lucky.”</p>
<p>“Seems I am.”</p>
<p>Eskel took off his clothes, leaving him only in his briefs, feeling practically nude under Jaskier’s appraising eyes. He went to open his bag to put his spare shirt on, but-</p>
<p>“Wait,” Jaskier said.</p>
<p>“Wanna look at some ugly scars?” He said, sarcastically.</p>
<p>“I think I know you, mister.”</p>
<p>“I’m really sorry but I think I’d know if I’d met a magical merman.”</p>
<p>“Merman? Is that what you call me?”</p>
<p>“Sorry, a magical Jaskier.”</p>
<p>“That’s better. But I do know you! You tried to swim at the beach at night and smelled like really cheap alcohol a couple of months ago!”</p>
<p>“How do you know what alcohol smells like?”</p>
<p>“I have my secrets,” he winked.</p>
<p>“You didn’t recognize me when you saw this ugly mug again?” He gestured at his face.</p>
<p>Jaskier frowned. “You’re not ugly, shut up. Your scars... I held you because you’d drown otherwise, and because you had a very handsome silhouette, of course.”</p>
<p>“You held me? I think I’d remember that,” he scoffed, “Can’t say anybody’s ever told me that my silhouette is handsome before.”</p>
<p>“Well, that’s a shame.” he sighed, “Before I was captured, you were with a couple of friends and seemed very happy. You dived into the water while they cheered you on, and then they left.” Jaskier frowned, “They weren’t very good friends, now that I think about it.”</p>
<p>He knew what Jaskier was talking about. The night he won the house, the night of which he only remembered the smell of the sea and the feeling of the sand...</p>
<p>Jaskier’s exposition explained the state he had found himself in that morning. God, if Jaskier hadn’t found him then he would’ve drowned without a question, both drunk and tired. He took a shaky breath. Eskel would’ve died and left behind his family, who’d find his dead body on shore days later and-</p>
<p>He shook himself off. He was alive, he was here -Eskel pinched himself to make sure- he was in front of a very pretty magical creature of unknown origins who had just made a very complementary comment about his figure.</p>
<p>Eskel quickly put on his spare clothes, feeling embarrassed. He ignored his little red boots, which would have to wait until he went to the tide pools as planned next week.</p>
<p>Now clad in his old shirt and his compact shorts, he jumped inside the tank, the water immediately swallowing him. He burst up the water surface with a loud gasp. He shivered at the unpleasant texture of water against the skin of his face and the rest of his body and at its smell. They probably hadn’t changed the poor man’s (again, man’s?) water since they brought him in, he’d have to ask about that, they probably just didn’t care since they were planning on chopping him up and selling his skeleton anyways. </p>
<p>He had to ask about that as well. </p>
<p>Eskel shook himself off his thoughts about Jaskier’s untimely death and reached down, placing his hand on the delicate skin of Jaskier’s waist. He looked at his eyes to confirm consent, and Jaskier nodded, looking vaguely amused and perhaps somewhat vulnerable.</p>
<p>His hands traveled lower, now at the skin of his hips, where his scales were the strongest and their blue colour shined bright, despite the spots of discoloration leaving it looking slightly washed out and unhealthy.</p>
<p>Jaskier was stunning. From his delicate veil to the top of his chestnut coloured hair.</p>
<p>The door burst open, Istredd walked inside with confidence that faltered once he saw the scene in front of him. Eskel with his hands on the creature’s hips, looking vaguely flushed and chest deep in the water tank Jaskier now lived in.</p>
<p>Jaskier’s first reaction was to hiss and pull away sharply from Eskel’s touch. No longer feeling safe enough for the physical examination.</p>
<p>Eskel immediately swam away from him and raised himself from the water onto the stairs next to the tank.</p>
<p>“How did you get it to allow you inside the tank?”</p>
<p>Time to lie, Ezequiel Wolfe.</p>
<p>“I gave it food and it trusted me.”</p>
<p>Istredd’s eyes shone in wonder.</p>
<p>“I wonder what it’ll do once I feed it.”</p>
<p>“The behavior from this one’s species,” Eskel nodded his head towards Jaskier, who was glaring at Istredd. “Seems similar to a Betta fish, they’re extremely territorial, aggressive, and only allow few into its ‘home’.” Eskel paused again, thinking of another convenient lie, “It’s probably better if only I get in contact with it, since it let me into the tank. Less dangerous for the rest of the crew.”</p>
<p>“Ah, bugger,” Istredd said, clearly disappointed.</p>
<p>Eskel nodded, pretending to be sympathetic.</p>
<p>“Well, no matter,” he clapped his hands, “If you could, Istredd, um, maybe uh, leave me to change my clothes, please?”</p>
<p>“Oh, of course!” Istredd said, turning around.</p>
<p>Eskel gave Jaskier, who was staring at him with doubt, a beseeching look to understand him. Jaskier bared his teeth at him, a reminder that he was on thin ice.</p>
<p>He took off his wet clothes and dried himself hurriedly, putting his things inside his bag and putting on his dry clothes. He quickly walked down the stairs, “I’m ready,” he said.</p>
<p>Istredd turned around, “Alright Mr. Wolfe, your work schedule will be sent in an email this evening.”</p>
<p>They shook hands again and Eskel was off like lightning to his home. He decided to walk the hour home instead of waiting for whenever the bus might arrive.</p>
<p>What was he going to do? This was far beyond his scope of knowledge in all of the many things he had a vague knowledge of. He only knew moths and how to tell if an animal was healthy or not at a simple gaze. If this job had been about mothman this would’ve been so much easier.</p>
<p>If this would’ve been about mothman he would’ve died in shock instead of having a mini panic attack right in front of his new boss.</p>
<p>Mothman.</p>
<p>He wondered about the patterns on its wings.</p>
<p>What was its migration route, did he go where it was warm in winters?</p>
<p>What about-?</p>
<p>Focus, Ezequiel.</p>
<p>Fish. Man. Left to his care.</p>
<p>Eskel walked fast through the city, he’d be home in fifty minutes. Much time to think and boil himself in questions without answers. He didn’t like unanswered questions but this time he’d just have to deal.</p>
<p>He didn’t regret not taking the bus, he needed a good walk to take in the day’s new information. He could trust his feet to take him home on auto pilot.</p>
<p>He remembered asking Vesemir for a pet when he was ten, only to be refused because “he couldn’t deal with the responsibility of having to take care of a living being”. And so, he never asked for a pet again. Granted, he was only ten back then and only wanting a ferret to pet and to look at, but the principle remained. He didn’t know if he was qualified to take care of Jaskier. Strong willed and funny Jaskier. Who hated salmon and was a thinking being, much like himself. And he had a tail.</p>
<p>And gills.</p>
<p>And, well.</p>
<p>He was kinda cute.</p>
<p>But time to repress that, Ezequiel. It’s not time for liking a merman.</p>
<p>… Or was it?</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>It wasn’t, it really wasn’t.</p>
<p>Back to what was important: It was immoral to keep a creature in such a state. Even if Jaskier had been a large, unthinking (as far as he was aware), catfish, he still would’ve been against its treatment. The problem was that, unlike a catfish, Jaskier was a being undiscovered by science, so the scales and dangers were higher. What could he do to protect Jaskier? He’d claimed himself the native fish defender. Was Jaskier a native to the area? Are there any more pods in different areas of the coast? He wondered if- Stop it Eskel.</p>
<p>Focus.</p>
<p>Forty minutes until he was home.</p>
<p>If anyone was going to help Jaskier it was going to be him.</p>
<p>Istredd had said that his remains would go to a private benefactor. What would happen to him in between? What would they do to him?</p>
<p>Eskel needed time.</p>
<p>He needed a plan and help. He couldn’t pull something like this alone.</p>
<p>Thirty minutes.</p>
<p>He walked faster, practically sprinting now. He’d begun to sweat at the immensity of his situation. He’d just wanted to support his family and to do good for them. He couldn’t ever do anything right, of course something magical had to pop out on the world to fuck up the one thing he could do with his useless degree. Useless, stupid Eskel, who couldn’t have a normal job, a normal life -he felt tears well up on his eyes-, he had to somehow fuck everything up.</p>
<p>He just wanted to help his brothers and make them proud.</p>
<p>Fifteen minutes.</p>
<p>He stopped at the side of a building, taking big breaths.</p>
<p>Calm down Eskel.</p>
<p>“I want to help”, he said to himself, “I’m a good person and I’m trying my best. This isn’t my fault, this is something beyond my control and I’m trying my best”.</p>
<p>Deep breaths.</p>
<p>“I’m trying my best to help and I’ll do my best. This isn’t my fault,” he sighed, “Alright.”</p>
<p>He kept on walking home, calmer. Trying his best not to think.</p>
<p>He just wanted to sleep.</p>
<p>Eskel walked inside his home.</p>
<p>He ignored his brother’s questions, walking straight into his room, exhausted. He left his bag next to his bed, climbed in and stayed still, his brain making him try to think about what had happened today.</p>
<p>But he’d done much thinking today and he was tired.</p>
<p>He let himself relax into the warmth of his bed and fell asleep.</p>
<p>And Ezequiel Wolfe dreamt of the sea.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>my tumblr is <a href="https://eskelsimp.tumblr.com/">eskelsimp</a>, come speak to me! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My tumblr's <a href="https://eskelsimp.tumblr.com/">eskelsimp</a>! shoot me a message to talk abt the witcher hcs and the such!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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